Democracy

CMD and Consumer Reports WebWatch Launch Full Frontal Scrutiny

"The American public deserves to know when someone is trying to persuade them." — U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, Thursday, January 17, 2008

Front Groups Beware of Full Frontal Scrutiny

Front Groups - Appearances May Be DeceptiveToday, the Center for Media and Democracy and our partners at Consumer Reports WebWatch launched an exciting new project: Full Frontal Scrutiny. The site seeks to shine a light on front groups -- organizations that state a particular agenda, while hiding or obscuring their identity, membership or sponsorship, or all three. Google the term "front groups" and the number one return is CMD's extensive articles on its SourceWatch site.

Presidential Election Season Brings New, More Stupid 527 Groups

The Huffington Post and TPM Muckraker highlight the newest activities of Roger Stone, whose past includes a stint as the "youngest dirty trickster" for Richard Nixon and a recent alleged prank call to

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It's the War, Healthcare and the Economy, Stupid

"Several of the leading presidential candidates have adopted 'change' as a campaign theme and have rushed to claim that they themselves are the candidates for change," notes Frank Newport of the Gallup polling organization. "But exactly what form that 'change' should take has been a little murky. Change is such a broad concept that -- like a Rorschach inkblot test -- an individual can read into it what he or she wants." To clarify things a bit, Gallup surveyed Americans to ask what type of change they wanted.

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Hill & Knowlton's Maldives Role Still Generating Heat

The role of the PR firm Hill & Knowlton (H&K) in polishing the image of the authoritarian government of the Maldives has become the centerpoint of a controversy between the former Foreign Minister, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, and the current Information Minister, Mohamed Nasheed.

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Second UK Energy Consultation Headed for Meltdown

"We are profoundly concerned that the government's approach was designed to provide particular and limiting answers," announced a spokesperson for the British nuclear consultation group. The independent group of energy economists and nuclear advisers condemned the British government's second attempt at developing a national energy policy, saying that "the government's plans to force through a new generation of nuclear power stations" is "undemocratic and possibly illegal," reported John Vidal.

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The Taming of Al Jazeera

The New York Times reports, "When a Saudi court sentenced a young woman to 200 lashes in November after she pressed charges against seven men who had raped her, the case provoked outrage and headlines around the world, including in the Middle East. But not at Al Jazeera, the Arab world's leading satellite television channel, seen by 40 million people. ...

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USA Today: Pushing John Edwards Out of the Race?

John Edwards: squeezed out?A USA Today article analyzing the electability of presidential candidates running in Iowa barely mentioned John Edwards, even though Edwards is the only Democrat besides Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who consistently polls in the double digits in Iowa, according to

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